✧ Chapter 6 ✧
A reward?
The Grand Duke’s children had disappeared without a trace.
No wonder the Grand Duke was losing his mind.
“I wonder if they’re even still alive.”
“What if the Imperial Family kidnapped them?”
“Shh! Keep your voice down. Don’t say things like that.”
How heartbreaking.
He had lost his children.
I could almost picture the Grand Duke, whom I had never even met, wasting away day by day, unable to eat or sleep as he searched for them.
Should I try using my magic to find them?
“Excuse me… do you know what those children look li—”
I had just leaned out of the butcher shop door to ask the women when—
“The backyard!”
Luna suddenly shouted.
“Huh?”
“…has a cat! Hop, hop!”
“Isn’t ‘hop, hop’ what rabbits do?”
“Oh… right.”
Where had that song suddenly come from?
For a moment, it looked like Luna was about to sing.
Then she quickly acted as if nothing had happened and kept quiet.
What a strange child…
Smiling, I turned back—
Only to find the women gone.
While I had been distracted, they had run away.
Well… it can’t be helped.
I took the children to the next shop.
The clothing store.
Since we were already in the village, I planned to buy clothes and shoes.
Of course…
For the children.
It looked like they would be staying with me for quite a while.
There was joy in feeding children.
But dressing them up was just as fun.
I wanted them to wear clothes even prettier than the ones I had made.
“Welco—”
The shop owner greeted me warmly as I opened the door.
Then her face turned completely pale.
She was one of the women I had seen outside the butcher shop earlier.
She had run into the store because of me.
Now it probably looked like I had followed her.
Besides…
I had never stepped into this clothing store before.
I always made my own clothes.
And fairies who occasionally visited my cottage made my shoes.
No wonder she looked so shocked.
I smiled as kindly as I could.
“I’d like to buy some clothes and shoes for the children.”
The owner’s eyes left my face.
Only then did she notice the little girl holding my arm and the little boy hiding behind my skirt.
“Could you show me some things that would fit them?”
To show her I could pay, I lifted the pouch of gold coins hanging from my waist.
It looked heavy even from a distance.
Color slowly returned to the owner’s face.
“O-Of course.”
“Certainly.”
She nudged the shop assistant standing beside her.
“It’s the witch.”
The assistant immediately turned pale and took a step backward.
“If she has money, she’s a customer.”
“Just sell her what she wants and let her leave.”
“W-Why me?”
“Hurry.”
“What if she gets angry and turns all of us into frogs?”
“She’s already angry.”
“Is this how people in the countryside treat their customers?”
Luna crossed her arms while looking at a pair of red shoes on display.
Oh no…
No matter how many times I told them to speak politely to adults…
The children simply wouldn’t listen.
We really needed to have a proper talk about it.
But now wasn’t the right time.
I quickly tried to smooth things over.
“She’s been playing princess lately.”
“Haha…”
“That’s why she talks like that.”
“Haha…”
Unfortunately…
My awkward excuse didn’t help at all.
“Hazel.”
“Turn those people into frogs right now.”
Luna pointed at the two women behind the counter.
Both of them flinched and shrank back.
“No, no.”
“I don’t do things like that.”
“I really don’t.”
“If we give lots and lots of flowers…”
“…you won’t eat us…”
Before Luka could finish, Luna interrupted.
“If they don’t want to sell us anything, then let’s just leave.”
One child pulled me toward a vase of flowers on display.
The other pulled me toward the door.
Maybe…
Watching me struggle helplessly with two little children made me seem less like a terrifying witch.
An elderly woman who had been quietly watching from a chair in the corner finally stood up and walked over.
“I don’t think you’re a bad person.”
“Those children look clean and healthy.”
She glared at the assistants, who were whispering that I was only fattening the children before eating them.
Apparently…
She was the shop owner’s mother.
“The little lady’s hair looks like the night sky…”
She stopped while choosing dresses that would suit Luna.
“Her eyes…”
“They’re purple.”
Perhaps Luna felt uncomfortable being stared at.
She lowered her head while looking at a dark green dress.
Just like Luka…
She had a shy side too.
I gently patted her shoulder before smiling at the old woman.
“Yes.”
“Aren’t they beautiful?”
Purple eyes were rare.
But not unheard of.
Long ago, they had been a symbol of the Imperial Family.
Over the years, however, the bloodlines had mixed enough that even commoners were sometimes born with them.
Perhaps one of Luna’s ancestors had been royalty.
I bought several outfits in different colors and styles.
Then several pairs of shoes.
Hair ribbons.
Hats.
Soon, I had more things than I could carry.
I needed to send the boxes of clothes back to the cottage.
But not the groceries or meat.
If I did…
Daisy and Lady would happily eat everything before we got home.
“I’ll carry this.”
Luna hugged the red shoes she liked the most.
Just as I snapped my fingers to send the rest of the boxes home—
“Do you think she kidnapped them?”
The shop owner and assistant whispered behind the counter.
Oh dear…
I hoped they weren’t going to report me to the town guards for kidnapping children.
That would become troublesome.
“That’s not what happened.”
I turned around to explain.
Then stopped.
What should I say?
Should I tell them these were my children?
After all…
No one in the village knew what I did inside my cottage.
And who would remember what my body looked like six or eight years ago?
I didn’t even know myself.
If I simply claimed they were my children…
People would probably stop asking questions.
But…
I looked down at the two children.
They knew the truth.
Lying so openly in front of them didn’t feel right.
“These children…”
In the end…
I told them the truth before leaving the clothing store.
Thankfully, both the owner and the assistant nodded.
It didn’t look like they planned to report me.
Our final stop was the toy shop.
Nature was already a wonderful playground.
The forest animals were already their friends.
Still…
I wanted to buy them something.
More importantly…
“Luka.”
“What do you think of this?”
“Does it look like Lulu?”
I wanted to find something that could replace the stuffed rabbit he had left behind.
I held up a large, soft rabbit doll.
But Luka looked disappointed.
Not similar enough?
“Then…”
“Does this rabbit look more like Lulu?”
I picked up a white rabbit doll instead.
Luka sucked his thumb until it turned red before shaking his head.
“Lulu is only Lulu.”
“This isn’t Lulu.”
I gently stopped him before he could put his thumb back into his mouth.
Then I softly stroked his silky silver hair.
“Then…”
“How about I buy you a real rabbit?”
“A weal wabbit?”
“Yes.”
“A real rabbit that hops around.”
Luka’s blue eyes sparkled like a lake filled with sunlight.
“Luna.”
“Have you ever raised a rabbit bef—”
“Huh?”
Luna was gone.
The place where she had been standing beside the wooden dolls was empty.
I looked around the shop.
The little girl with black hair was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did she go?”
Holding Luka’s hand tightly, I hurried outside.
I wasn’t worried that someone had kidnapped her.
No one was brave enough to kidnap a witch’s child.
Unlike Luka, who never left my side…
Luna was independent and fearless.
She often wandered off by herself.
“Luna!”
“Lu—”
I stopped calling.
Across the street…
Luna was standing in front of a fruit shop.
What’s she doing?
She had climbed onto a box of apples and was tearing a piece of paper off the wall.
“Luna!”
“What are you doing?”
“Eek!”
She quickly turned around and hid the torn paper behind her back.
I didn’t even have to ask what it was.
I could read part of the paper sticking out behind her.
“A reward will be given to anyone who finds…”
Is it a wanted poster or something?
“You shouldn’t tear those down.”
The town guards or the Grand Duke’s family often posted notices around the busy streets.
If you damaged one…
You might even be fined.
“What did you tear down?”
“Let me see.”
“I don’t know what it was.”
“We didn’t have any paper.”
“So I thought I could take it.”
Luna waved her hands nervously as I walked closer.
“You need paper?”
“For drawing?”
“Yes!”
“Then you should’ve told me.”
“I’ll buy you paper.”
“And crayons too.”
“Okay!”
“But first…”
“Ask the fruit shop owner to help you put that paper back.”
“Okay!”
After making one more stop at the art supply shop, evening had already fallen.
“Let’s go home now…”
“My little chestnuts.”
The walk home was filled with cheerful chatter as we talked about what to eat for dinner.
It had been a busy day.
But a wonderful one.
The rumor that the Grand Duke had gone mad…
Wasn’t true.
Not yet.
But if his children were never found…
It soon would be.
The man sitting on the edge of the bed under the pale moonlight looked nothing like the perfect Grand Duke everyone admired.
He sat as though he were standing on the edge of a cliff.
Even the collar of his shirt hung loose, reflecting the turmoil in his heart.
That was something the usually neat and composed Grand Duke would never have allowed.
One hand covered his forehead.
Beneath it, tired purple eyes stared silently at the object in his other hand.
The ruler of the Empire’s largest territory…
The commander whose very name made monsters and enemy soldiers tremble with fear…
Was holding… something completely unexpected.
